Nightingale returns to lead icehogs

Patrick WilliamsTheeahl.com contains a writer

Another rule on Jared Nightingale‘s CV put him in an excellent position to become an AHL head coach.

Since his retirement in 2017 after 11 pro seasons skating in the AHL and Echl, Nightingale had steadily found its way by various coaching stops, a clear suitable for the respected former defender and captain.

He started as an assistant coach at Omaha of the United States Hockey League. He worked with the prestigious development program of the American national team and later became an associated coach at Saginaaw of the Ontario Hockey League. In November 2021, the ripple effects of a coaching shake-up with the Chicago Blackhawks opened a place to bring the one-off Icehog as an assistant coach in Rockford.

But the experience of head coaching usually goes a long way in adopting decisions, and Nightingale still needed that line on his CV. In 2024 he was hired as head coach and director of Hockey Operations for the South Carolina Stingrays of Echl, an operation that has been a proven coaching track for both the AHL and NHL for people Jared Bednar” Gilles Maclean” Spencer Carbery And Ryan Warsofsky. Nightingale led South Carolina to the best regular season in the history of franchise, finished first in the competition and earned the Echl’s Coach of the Year Award.

With that kind of success in combination with all bench experience at the AHL level, it was expected that Nightingale would attract this season for the vacancy of head coaching in the American Hockey League. He was called Rockford’s new head coach on 30 May.

When it was time to interview with the Blackhawks organization last spring, Nightingale already had history with the Front Office from his time with Rockford. Because they don’t have to break the ice or get to know each other, the two parties could go hockey and learn what Nightingale had achieved from his first campaign with South Carolina. A strong relationship between the NHL and AHL head coaches is also the key and Nightingale already arrived Knowing Blashill, a colleague Michigander.

“I thought it was probably an easier conversation than talking to someone you haven’t met yet, an organization for which you have not worked,” said Nightingale, who, in addition to his ties with Rockford, also knows new Blackhawks -head coach and colleague Michigan -resident Jeff Blashill. “I think the relationships are there. As my first main job in the AHL, I will bring some enthusiasm and excitement for these players and their development.”

The IceHogs get a coach who has seen all the ups and downs that belong to the pro game. Independently, the product of the Michigan State University Pro with the Springfield Falcons late in the 2005-06 season and made AHL-Stops in Iowa, Hartford, Chicago, Syracuse, Norfolk, Grand Rapids and Milwaukee next to Rockford, where he served as captain of the IJshogs.

If Nightingale always seemed like a natural fit to coach one day, it was a feeling that he also loved. As a leader and captain in different teams, especially as he got older, he started to pay attention to how his head coaches operated. And for so much focus on work is on ICE, a lot of players’ development concentrates on helping players to develop pro-habits and find their way to the maturity of the ice. Among his AHL coaches were blashill, Jon Cooper” Craig Berube” Dean Evason and Ahl Hall of Famers John Anderson And Ken Gernander.

“I have always looked for coaches and not only captains, but good teammates and leaders,” Nightingale explained. “I understand how great an impact you can have on the career and the life of a player. That is something that goes beyond the Xs and Os.”

Creating that sense of value will be an important priority. Leading a team at this level is not just about focusing on top perspectives. Nightingale spent his entire career trying to play a role. He will bring a certain concept for helping and understanding a player who may have to deal with stalled progress or is struggling to stay in the competition.

In South Carolina he also saw how the Washington Capitals and Hershey Bears all worked to make him and the stingrays feel as an essential part of the organization. Nightingale went to the training camp with the capitals and Carbery made sure he was included in coaching meetings.

“I think the players in South Carolina knew they were being appreciated,” Nightingale explained. “That made my work a lot easier – the communication and how great a work that Washington does when creating a family culture.”

So as the Blackhawks rebuild in Chicago, they need their prospects in the right development environment in Rockford. And part of that environment is about giving every player on the Roster an interest in the team and its success.

“I lived it as a player,” said Nightingale. “The power that a coach has in introducing faith [that] You can still improve. Trying to get that to embrace and enjoy it – that’s why it is important to communicate the vision of the team and expectations. You really have to have a passion for the daily grind to try to get better. That is something I won’t look past.

“Every player who comes to Rockford, I want them to get better.”

During the American Hockey League -Beat for two decades, Theahl.com Writer Patrick Williams currently also contains the competition for NHL.com and Flosports and makes a regular contribution to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his excellent reporting about the competition in 2016.